Dumping apparatus



Oct. y

C. E.. GLASSEN DUIPING APPARATUS Filed'Jan. 29. 1926 2 Sheets-Shet 1,

INVE/Y 7'08 (I I. 6/.1535/1 Oct. 25, 1927. 1,646,815

C. E. GLASSEN DUIPING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 29. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 InaEnrol? 6. f. 6:435:71

A TTORHE vs Patented Oct. 25, 1927.

means CHARLES E. GLASSEN, OF COLUMBIA. ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO COLUMBIAQUARRY COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A GQB-PORATION OF MISSOURI.

DUMPING APPARATUS.

Application filed January 29, 1926. Serial No. 84,58'L,

This invention relates {generally to dump-tiltable element B are invertical aline nent ing apparatus, and articularly to a compressed aircontrolled dumping" apparatus intended for use in dumping; the contentsof railroad cars therefrom, the main object of the invention beingtoproduce a dumping apparatus so constructed and arranged that. same maybe operated to dump a very heavy railroad car by air pressure whichwould be insufficient to dump said railroadcarin the absence of myimproved arrangement.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention. comprisesthe novel construction, combination and arrangement of 1 artshereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein is shown the preferred em bodiment of theinvention. However, it is to be understood that the invention comprehends change-s. variations and modifications which come within the scopeof the claims hereunto appended. l

Fig. I is a vertical section taken through my improved dumping apparatusshowing a railroad car in place thereon, parts of the apparatus beingshown in elevation.

II is a side elevation of iny improved dumping apparatus.

Fig. III is a. vertical section taken on the line III- II of Fig. 11.

Fig. IV is a sectional detail illustrating the valve arrangement wherebythe passage of compressed air to and from the air cylinder iscontrolled. i I

In the drawings A designates my improved dumping apparatus, whichcomprises a tiltable element B adapted to receive a railroad car C. Thetiltable element B comprises a pair of arcuate members 1 which arearranged at opposite ends of said tiltable element, as shown in Fig. 11,and each in dividual arcu ate member is provided with a raised arcuatetrack 2 which extends from end to end of the arcuate member. 'Arrangedat each end of the tiltableeleinont B is a pair of idler rollers 3, saidrollers each being mounted on e stud shaft t which is rotatably arrangedin suitable bearingssupported by the base of the apparatus. The idlerrollers 3 are capable of independent movement, and each of said rollersis pro vided with an annular groove formed in the circumferential facethereof. The pairs of idler rollers 3 at the opposite ends of the withthe arcuatemembers 1, and the raised tracks on said ar'cuate membersextend into the annular groovesin the circumferential faces of saidrollers whereby said tiltable element B is rotatably supported by saidrollers.

5 designates a shaft which is extended loneitudinallly'of the apparatusat theappronimatetransverse center thereof, said shaft being locatedimmediately below the tiltable element B as shown in Figs. I and 111.Fixed to. the shaft 5 is a pair of pulleys '6, said pulleys beingarranged below portions oft-heoppositely disposed arcuate members 1, asshown in Fig. II. 7 designates a pair of cables which are arranged atthe opposite ends of the tiltable element B, as shown in Fig. 11. theopposite ends of said cables being secured to clips 8 which are in turnattached to the arcuate members 1, and said cables are each wound atleast once entirely around the associated pulley 6. Each of the cables 7is secured at its approximate center to the associated pulley 6 andportions of said cables are in contact with arcuate faces of the arcuatemembers 1, as shown in Fla. 1].

By referringto Figs. I and II it will be noted that each of. the arcuatemembers 1 is provided. with an end wall 9. and these oppositely disposedwalls constitute the end walls of the tiltable element B. The end walls9justmentioned are cut away to permit therailroad car C to pass into andout of the tiltahle element B, as shown in Fig. H.

Extended longitudinally of the tiltahle element B of the apparatus atthe opposite sides thereof arepairs of angle bars 10. said angle barsbeing secured to the oppositely disposed end walls 9, by means ofsuitable attaching plates 11. 12 designates vertically arranged plates.a plurality of which is associated with each pair of angle bars 10, saidplates 12 being extended from the upper to the lower angle bar of eachpair of angle bars to add rigidity to the structure Also, the angle barstructure at the opposite sides of the tiltahle element B are furtherstrengthened by cross braces 13.

Extended longitudinally of the tiltable element B from one end wall 9thereof to the opposite endwall is a pair of I-beams 14 which aresecured to said end walls 9 by meansof suitable attaching plates 15.

Also, the opposite end portions of the I-' ing extended transversely ofsaid tiltable element a. considerable portion of its width, as shown inFigs. II and TH. Located beneath the opposite side marginal portions ofthe bed plate 17 is a pair oi channel beams 18, which are secured to theopposite endwalls 9 of the tiltable element. The side portions of thebed plate 17 are secured to the channel bars 18, whereby said channelbars aid in supporting said bed plate 17. 19 designates a pair ofrailroad rails which are supported and are secured to the bed plate 17,said rails providing a trackway on which the railroad car to be dumpedmay be moved into the tiltable element B.

V The railroad car Gillustrated in Fig; I is of a type now general useand said car is provided with sills C. 20- designates angle memberswhich are secured to the plates 13 at the opposite sides of the:tlltable element B. said angle members being so arranged thatthe sillsC of the railroad car C will be located beneath said angle bars,- asshown in Fig. I, hence when the tiltable element B is tilted to dump thecontents of the railroad car, said angle members will prevent saidrailroad car from being d1splacedfrom the rails 19..

center of the tiltable element vB is an arc uate ,member 21.approximately channelshaped incross section. When view-ed in a directionlongitudinal of'the tiltable element the member21 has the same shape asthe arcuate members 1 already described, and

said arcuate member-21 is rigidlyfixed to the oppositely disposed anglebars 140 by means of suitable attaching plates 22, so that it willrotateas a part of the tiltable element. 23 designates a cable. one end ofwhich is fixed to the arcuate member 21 at an end thereof by means oiaclip 24:; The cable 23 passes downwardly from its point of attachment tothe member 21 and passes around a sheave 25, said cablethen passingupwardly to and around a sheave 26 from which said cable passesdownwardly. 27 designates a therefrom. 3:0 designatesia compressed aircylinder of ordinary construction within Located at the approximatelongitudinal which is arranged for reciprocation a piston 31. The piston31 is-arranged intermediate the ends of an elongated piston rod 32, thearrangement being such that portions of said piston rod extend forconsiderable distances above and below the piston. The air cylinder is,of course, provided with usual stufling boxes to prevent the escapeofcompressed air around the piston rod 32 at the opposite ends of saidcylinder. The compressed air cylinder 30 and the sheaves 26 and 29 aresupported by a suitable standard 30. a By referring to Fig.

I it will be noted that the end of the cable 23 opposite to the endthereof which is secured to the arcuate member 21 is fixed to the upperend of the piston rod 32 in any suitable manner, and also the end of thecable 27 opposite to the end thereof which is secured to said arcuatemember 21 is fixed to thelower end of said piston rod 32. 33 designatesan air conductor which leads to the lower end of the air cylinder 30below the piston 31, and 34 designates an air conductor which leads tothe upper portion of the air cylinder above said piston 3.1.

35 designates a four-way valve adapted to be actuated to causecompressed air to be introduced either in-togthe. upper or lowerportions of the air cylinder 30. Associated with the valve 35 is acompressed air inlet conductor 36, and 37' designates an air outletconductor, said inlet conductor 36 being adapted to conduct compressedair to the housing of the valve 35 and the exhaust conductor 37 beingintended to conduct co1n-' exhaust conductor 37, ith the, rotatablemember arranged as described compressed air will be introduced into thelower end of the air cylinder '30- and will move the piston upwardlytherein, at the same time causing the compressed air above the piston tobe exhausted through the conductor 34-, passageway 10 and exhaustconductor 37. It is plain, however, that the rotatable member 38 iscapable ofbeing rotated to cause the passageway 1O tocommunicate withtheinlet conductor 36 and ,-conductor 34, while the passageway'39communicates with the conductor 33 and exhaust conductor 37 in whichposition compressed air will be introduced into the upper portion or theair cylinder 30, thereby moving the piston downwardly and causing theair below the piston to be exhausted from the cylinder 30 through theconductor 33, passageway 39 and exhaust conductor 37.

In the operation of my improved dumping apparatus the car orother'vehicle to be dumped is moved into the tiltable element B, therails 19 within said tiltable element of course being alined with therails along which the car travels. .Vhen the car is properly positionedwithin the tiltable element B the sills C on said car will be locatedbeneath the angle bars 20, as already described, and as shown in Fig. l.he valve is operated by moving the handle 38 to cause the air passageway39 in the rotatablenieniber 38 of said valve to be placed incommunication with the air inlet conductor 36 and the conductor and as aresult of this compressed air will pass into the lower end of thecylinder 80 and will force the piston 31 upwardly. When the piston movesupwardly as described, the cable 27 will be drawn in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, due to the fact that said cable isattached to the piston rod 39. which moves with the piston, and becausethe opposite end of the cable 3? is secured to the tiltable member Bsaid tiltable member will be tilted in the direction indicated by thefeathered arrow in Fig. l. 'l v hen the rotatable member 38 of the valveis moved to permit air to pass from the inlet conductor through thepassageway 39 and conductor to the lower portion of the cylinder 30 thepassageway 40 will be moved into communication with the conductor 34 andexhaust conductor 37, and therefore air which located within thecylinder 30 and above the piston will be exhausted from said cylinder bythe upwardly moving piston. However, the passageway l0 provides a veryrestricted outlet for the air being exhausted,

and as a result the air above the piston will be placed under somepressure by the up wardly moving piston, and because this air is beingexhausted very slowly through the restricted passageway lO the speed ofmovement of the piston will be greatly reduced. Due to the fact that thecable 23 is attached to the piston rod 32 and tiltable element 13, thespeed of said tiltable element will be controlled by the speed of thepiston, hence the slow exhaust of air from above the piston will cause abraking action to be applied to the tiltable element and prevent the toorapid tilting thereof.

When the tiltable element has been tilted a sutficient distance topermit the contents of the car to be discharged therefrom the valve willagain be operated to cause compressed air to be introduced into theupper portion cat the cylinder 30, whereby the piston will be moveddownwardly, thus drawingthe cable 23 in the direction indicated by thearrow in Fig. I and restoring the tiltable element B to its originalposition. It apparent when the tiltable element is being restored thatthe air being exhausted from the lowerportion oi the cylinder will becompelled to pass through the restricted outlet 39, whereby the speed ofthe piston and consequently the speed of the tiltable element will bemaintained comparatively low.

To provide positive means for compelling the tiltable element to stop inits proper position when it has been restored, I arrange a. stop memberll on said tiltable element which is adapted to contact with astationary stop element 42.

A point of paramount importance in connection with my invention is thatthe arrangement is such that the air pressurewhich causes the car to bedumped need notbe nearly as great as it would be it the loaded car werebodily moved by the compressed air. As a matter of fact the air pressuredoes move the car, but the arrangement is such that the air pressure isgreatly assisted, hence, as already stated,.the car may be dumped by theuse of much less pressure than it the air pressure alone were reliedupon to move and dump the car. To make the foregoing clearer, it ispointed out that the tiltable element B and the railroad car (I rotateabout an axis which is designated by the reference character X in Fig.I. l Vhen the tiltable element B is in the position in which it is shownin. Fig. I and a loaded car is in place thereon, the load of material insaid car is approximately balanced above said axis X. When nowcompressed air is introduced below the piston 31 all that said air needdo is to move the tiltable element B until the load'is oil of balance,whereupon the weight of the load will cause the tiltable element to berotated until said tiltable element reaches aposition where the load ofmaterial will be discharged from the car. Also, when the contents of thecar has been dumped the heavy plates and beams which support therailroad car are heavier than the empty car, and as this heavier portionof the tiltable element is elevated when the dumping takes place arelatively small amount of air pressure only is needed to aid gravity inrestoring the tiltable element.

The purpose of the cables 7, the pulleys 6 and shaft 5 is to insure bothends of the tiltable eleinent B moving at the same rate of speed, itbeing plain that because both ends of the tiltable element are connectedtogether by the shaft 5, said opposite ends of said tiltable elementwill move at the same speed in spite of the fact that the load in thecar may be heavier at one end than at the other.

\Vhilc I have mentioned compressed air as the medium for actuating myimproved dumping apparatus, it is apparent that I may employsteain orany other medium for doing this work, and due to the fact that so littlepower is needed to effect the dumping operation I may do this workmanually.

I claim: I

1. A dumping apparatus comprising a tiltable element in the form of areceptacle adapted to receive a vehicle to be dumped, means whereby'saidtiltable element is rotatably supported, and means whereby said tiltableelement may bermoved from a load receiving positionto a dumpingposition, the last mentioned means including a compressed air cylinder,a piston arranged for reciprocation within said compressed air cylinder,flexible connectors movable with said piston and attached, to saidtiltable element, said.

' piston being adapted to be moved in one direction to tilt saidtitlable. element and in another direction to restore said tiltableelement, an-d restricted passageways through which the compressed airpasses whereby the speed of movement of said piston and said tiltableelement isretarded.

2. A dumping apparatus comprising a tiltable element in the form of areceptacle having arcuate end portions and adapt-ed to receive a vehicleto be dumped, means within said tiltable element adapted to engage thevehicle and prevent displacement tilt-able element, said piston beingadapted to be moved in one direction to tilt said tilt: able element toa dumping position and in another to restore said tiltable element to aload-receivin-g position, and means for compelling uniform speed ofrotation. of the opposite end portions of said tiltable element.

3. A dumping apparatus comprising a tiltable element in the form of areceptaclehaving arcuate end portions and adapted to receive a vehicleto be dumped, means within saidytiltable element adapted to engage thevehicle and prevent displacement thereof, means comprising rollers onwhich said tiltable element is mounted whereby said tilt-able element ispermitted to rotate,

means whereby said receptacle may be moved from a load-receivingposition to a dump ,ing position, the last mentioned means including afluid cylinder, a piston arranged for reciprocation withm said cylinder,and connectors connecting said p1stonto said tiltable element, saidpiston beingadapted to be moved in one direction to tilt said tiltableelement to a dumping position and in another to restore said tiltableelement to a load-receiving position, and'means for compelling uniformspeed of rotation of the op posite end portions of said tiltableelement, said means including a shaft extended longitudin'ally of saidtiltable element and having pulleys mounted thereon, and cables securedto said tiltable element at the opposite ends In testimony that I claimthe foregoing I hereunto aiiix my signature.

CHARLES E. GLASSEN.

